A boat show this coming weekend will help extend this boating season and get people excited about their next opportunity to get out on the water.
The Nanaimo Boat Show takes place Sept. 19-22 at the Waterfront Suites and Marina along Stewart Avenue.
The show has been held in the spring in past years, but its new dates now make it the only end-of-season boat show in Western Canada, said Odai Sirri, event organizer.
“Shifting it now to the end of the nautical season, it’s basically become the Boxing Day sale of boat shows,” he said. “That’s the thing that’s going to make this one a little bit more unique.”
The new dates are a response to market forces. Recent U.S. tariffs had slowed activity in the industry, Sirri said, and when the tariffs were lifted, manufacturers made a huge amount of product available over a short time.
“It’s really buoyed the industry, so that’s good news for everybody,” Sirri said, especially in Nanaimo, which he added has “traditionally been known as the show where deals get done.”
He said the boat show is one more annual reminder that Nanaimo is a Harbour City, and he encourages people to get out on water in whatever craft they like, from a paddleboard to a yacht.
“When you look at the brokers that come and the dealers that come, they represent a pretty wide range of products and boat lines and marine lines, so it just speaks to the diversity of our market here and also because geographically, we pull from a very large pool,” said Sirri. “There’s a boat for every budget; there’s a product for everybody.”
Also new this year is a partnership with the B.C. Yacht Brokers Association “to bring incredible boat products and services to Nanaimo and the mid-Vancouver Island region, said Rom Van Stolk, BCYBA president, in a press release.
Admission is $8 per day or $10 for a four-day pass. Show proceeds benefit the John Howard Society. For more information about the Nanaimo Boat Show, visit www.nanaimoboatshow.com.
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